Christmas in Oz
by Ichiko Wind Gryphon
Summary: There was no such thing as Christmas in Oz. No sense of that holiday cheer and warmth when winter rolled around, and Dorothy missed it terribly. So what is Fiyero and Elphaba to do? Why, bring Christmas to Oz, of course! Somewhat prequel to Cursed Blood.


The Palace corridors were filled with the loud fits of giggles of two little children, who were barely five or six years old. The two small children dipped in and out of numerous rooms, across the massive halls, and all around the maze-like structure that was the Emerald City Palace. One of the small children, a boy with long black hair and piercing emerald eyes, was racing recklessly through the halls, almost knocking down an expensive vase perched precariously on a pillar. But as he glanced behind him, he ran face-first into something large, soft and warm. He looked up. It was no other than his mother, with a cross look on her face and her lips pursed.

"What are you doing?" her stern voice said. "And what have I told you about running in the halls?"

"Sorry, mom," the boy said sincerely. Immediately the woman's feature's softened, and she scooped the boy lovingly up in her arms.

"Just be careful, Chiron," Elphaba said gently, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I don't want you hurting yourself."

The second child, a blond girl a few months younger than the boy Chiron, peeked from behind a corner and giggled quietly to herself. Unbeownst to the girl, a large, towering figure was creeping up behind her silently. The figure lunged at the girl, and the girl let out a high pitched squeal of fright. That is, until the figure started tickling her.

"Uncle Yero, stop!" the little girl laughed.

Fiyero smiled broadly and continued to tickle her. "Oh? And what are you going to do if I don't, Panatia?"

"I'll tell my daddy!" Panatia cried. She was now laughing so hard she was crying.

"Oh, and what's your silly daddy going to do?" Fiyero continued to tease the little girl.

"I don't know, how about kidnap your own son and hold him for ransom?" another voice piped in. Boq stepped into the hall and plucked Chiron clean out of Elphaba's arms and slung him over his shoulder.

"Daddy, help me!" Chiron cried.

"I'm taking him hostage and I'm not letting him go until you let go of my little girl," Boq said in a deathly serious voice, but his features bore the largest grin his round face could possibly hold.

Fiyero laughed and let Panatia go, who instantly flung her tiny little frame at her own father. Boq gently lowered Chiron to the ground and kissed Panatia. Chiron ran back up to his own father and clutched his leg tightly, smiling happily.

Fiyero ruffled his son's hair. "So did you have fun with Panatia today?"

"Yes, daddy," Chiron said.

Elphaba glanced around. "By the way, where is Glinda and Dorothy?" she asked almost to herself.

"Glinda is in the kitchen making tea, I'm not sure where Dorothy is," Boq said, hoisting Panatia onto his shoulders. "Let's go check on my wife, shall we?"

Fiyero took Chiron's tiny little hand in his own, and wrapped his other hand lovingly around Elphaba, his wife and queen. A little more than six years has passed since the great war that overthrew Morrible and officially crowned Fiyero as king of Oz, and conditions have drastically changed in their fair nation, and all for the better. Animals had all of their rights back, the country was back on its feet, everything was right in the world. Fiyero had the most beautiful wife he could ever ask for, and blessed with an equally wonderful son.

He couldn't have asked for anything more.

Glinda was in the kitchen, just finishing brewing up a nice hot pot of her homemade tea. But Dorothy, their very good friend from the mysterious land of Kansas, was nowhere to be found.

"Hello, Glinda, have you seen Dorothy?" Elphaba asked.

"Well, not recently. Last time I saw her was in the piano room. You know how much she loves to play that thing," Glinda said.

Boq smiled. "Ah, of course we do. She is very talented with that instrument and she has a beautiful voice to sing along with."

Elphaba allowed a small smile to spread on her own lips as she graciously accepted a cup of tea from her friend. Dorothy was quite talented when it came to music, and would always be humming a tune under her breath. Raising the cup to her lips, Elphaba sipped her tea slowly and let the warmth from the liquid spread through her entire body. Her smile grew. There was nothing like a nice warm cup of tea on these harsh and cold winter days.

"Should we go get Dorothy?" Fiyero asked.

"She said she'll come when she's ready," Glinda said, then giggled. "And knowing her, she'll be a while."

"Then why not bring this merry little tea party to her?" Fiyero suggested.

* * *

Dorothy's fingers ran slowly over the black and white keys of the grand piano before her, allowing her eyes to close and her fingers to gently glide over them, filling the air with beautiful music. It cleared her mind of her troublesome thoughts and tormenting emotions.

Dorothy was happy living in Oz. She had the best friends anyone could ask for and the people adored her. She was a powerful ruler, and a wise one as well. She had done much for her people, and they all loved her for her kindness and generosity.

But there was one thing she missed very much from her home land of Kansas, back with her farmhand friends, Hickory and Zeke. Something she wished she could bring here, but of course, that was impossible.

It was that time of year again. It was almost Christmas, but here in Oz, there was no such thing.

The first year she spent in Oz, she was just as excited as ever when Christmas rolled around, and she happily walked around the town wishing everyone she met a merry Christmas. At first she didn't notice the bewildered and confused look the people gave her until Fiyero approached her, asking her what in the world Christmas was.

It then dawned on her. Christmas did not exist in Oz.

She should have known better by now. Two completely different worlds would of course have different holidays. And Christmas was no exception. At first she shrugged it off, but the shock had not completely settled in until much later.

Year after year, there was no familiar decorations, no familiar sense of that Christmas cheer, no lights, no trees, no presents, no feasts, no carolers, no obnoxious songs played endlessly on the radios (and why should there be? Radios have not been invented yet.) And Dorothy missed it dreadfully so. She would wake up, Christmas Day, no different than the day before, and get on with her life as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. But her heart pined for that holiday she enjoyed so much.

Being surrounded by friends and family, warmth and comfort, nothing but happiness and cheer filling the winter nights.

Dorothy's fingers stopped briefly over the piano, and she began to play a different song.

And she softly began to sing.

_Where are you Christmas?  
Why can't I find you?  
Why have you gone away?  
Where is the laughter  
You used to bring me?  
Why can't I hear music play?_

_My world is changing.  
I'm rearranging.  
Does that mean Christmas changes too?_

_Where are you Christmas?  
Do you remember  
The one you used to know?  
I'm not the same one.  
See what the time's done.  
Is that why you have let me go?_

Dorothy stopped, and drew in a shuddering breath. Fighting back the tears building in her eyes, she stepped up from the piano and walked up to the large window overlooking the Emerald City that surrounded her. She cast her head up to the starry night sky with the diamond-like stars shining brightly.

For some reason, it drew a painful memory from not so long ago, back in the great war. Hunk. Her lover, her life and soul. Just another casualty in the battlefield. Dorothy glanced down at her own hands, where the engagement ring shone bravely on her frail fingers. He was going to marry her. But _she_ took him from her.

Shaking her head, Dorothy sat back down in a chair and just looked up at the stars, longing for Hunk's tender arms around her shoulders.

* * *

Unknown to Dorothy, Fiyero, Boq, Glinda, and Elphaba had been watching her, but dared not interrupt. Her song had been so beautiful and sad. Fiyero frowned and his eyebrows crumbled together with concentration.

"What's Christmas, I wonder," Glinda said to herself.

"I remember the first year she was in Oz, it was around this time of year and she kept saying 'merry Christmas' to everyone. I asked her about it and she just simply said it was a holiday celebrated in her own world," Fiyero said.

"Well, it obviously must be a very important holiday for her," Boq said.

Glinda nodded. "Poor dear, she looks so sad."

"But what can we do for her?" Elphaba said.

"Why don't we celebrate Christmas with her?" Chiron asked simply.

All of the adults stared down at the child in awe. "How can someone so young be filled with such wisdom?" Elphaba wondered out loud. "It's brilliant, but we don't know the first thing about Christmas."

"We can make it a surprise party, and we can ask Dorothy's friends to tell us all about it!" Glinda said excitedly.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Fiyero said excitedly.

Elphaba swiftly climbed the staircase up to Dorothy's private quarters, where she knew the enchanted paper was. This paper allowed Dorothy to instantly communicate with her friends back at home. Dorothy had called it "IM on paper" but Elphaba didn't have the faintest idea what she meant by that. She located the paper almost immediately and picked up a quill and began to write.

_Hello, this is Elphaba._ _I need to ask you a question,_ she wrote.

A few minutes later, a response magically appeared on the paper. _Sure, what's the question?_

Elphaba grinned. She really had to admire Dorothy for her ingenuity. _I need you to tell me all about Christmas._

There was a brief pause. _Ah, Christmas. It's only Dorothy's favorite holiday. There's two aspects of it; religious and commercial. The religious aspect is that this was the day Jesus Christ was born._

_Who's Jesus Christ?_ Elphaba wrote.

_Who's Jesus Christ?! He's only the most important religious icon in Christianity! He's the son of God! He descended from heaven to die for our sins! He's our savior!_

Elphaba pursed her lips. _Dorothy talked to me about Christianity._ _So this was the day the son of a god was born?_

_Not_ a_ god._ The_ God. There's only one. _Zeke explained.

Elphaba nodded slowly. _So what's the commercial aspect? What does that even mean, anyway?_

_It's the reason why all the atheists can celebrate Christmas, too._ Zeke wrote. _This is going to sound weird, but on Christmas Eve, a man named Santa Claus rides on a magic sleigh pulled by eight flying reindeer. He flies all over the world and brings good little children presents._

Elphaba stared at the paper stupidly. _What?_

_Weird, I know, but hey, the kids love it,_ Zeke wrote. _Santa slides down the chimney and leaves gifts by the fireplace--_

_Wait, the chimney?!_ Elphaba butted in. _But that's suicide!_

_It's a legend, it's best not to think too hard on these things, sweetie,_ Zeke wrote. _But anyway, let me go on . . ._

* * *

Fiyero stared at the notes Elphaba had made about Christmas. "Wow, this is the weirdest holiday I had ever heard of," he mumbled.

Elphaba shrugged. "It's best not to think too hard about it."

"Alright, so we need a Christmas tree, presents, sugar cookies, lights, holly, mistletoe--" Fiyero began.

"And Zeke kindly pointed out to me that Christmas is in three days," Elphaba said. Fiyero jumped.

"We have three days to get all of this ready?!" Fiyero exclaimed. Elphaba shrugged.

"I'm sure we can pull it off."

"BOQ!" Fiyero called.

Almost immediately the Munchkin popped his head into the room. "Yeah?"

"Grab your axe, we're going tree hunting!" Fiyero said.

Boq raised an eyebrow. "Um, what? And I haven't used my axe in . . . six years. And that was a _battle axe_."

"Just grab a hatchet and let's go," Fiyero said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Oy! Chiron! Where are you, my little man?"

"Right here, daddy!" Chiron said, sprinting into the room.

"I need you to help mommy make cookies!" Fiyero said. Chiron's eyes bulged wide.

"COOKIES!" he exclaimed.

"Glinda! Get shopping for presents!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Glinda saluted.

Boq and Fiyero slipped on their winter coats and headed out of the Emerald City to the Emerald Forest, about a half-hour walk from the city walls.

"Now, Zeke specifically said an evergreen tree," Fiyero said to himself. "And it has to be nice and pretty."

"What do we do with a tree once we get it?" Boq asked.

"We're going to decorate it."

"With _what_?!"

Fiyero shrugged. "Use your imagination. Uncooked noodles on string. Paper snowflakes. Little things like that."

Boq shook his head in disbelief. "This is a very strange holiday. Whoever heard of decorating a _tree_?!"

"In retrospect, remember how confused Dorothy was when we clebrated the Lurline Feast and we threw flaming pots into the river?"

"But there's a perfectly logical and historical reason for that ritual!" Boq cried out, waving his arms and the hatchet dangerously close to Fiyero. "The pot symbolizes the human body and the flames represent the life force--"

"But Dorothy didn't know that." Fiyero pointed out. "I'm sure a tree decorated with stuff holds some weird symbolic thing for her."

"I guess," Boq sighed defeatedly. "Oh, look, there's a nice tree!"

Fiyero looked up and down the evergreen carefully. It was a tall, large white pine, with feather-like needles and at least fifteen feet tall. He smiled. "It's perfect! Chop it down and let's take it home!"

* * *

The six of them, Elphaba, Fiyero, Boq, Glinda, Chiron and Panatia, worked for the next three days on their secret project. Whenever Dorothy was nearby, Glinda always rushed up to her and hurriedly shoved her out to go shopping. Dorothy was confused at Glinda's suspicious behavior, but never said anything. And all for the better.

Fiyero was busy trying to figure out just what the heck went on a tree. Zeke said that back home they used strands of lights, garland, and glass ornaments. Elphaba had found a few lightweight crystaline objects and tied them to the branches, while Fiyero attempted to find anything slightly resembling the ornaments and decorations Zeke had described. Eventually, after hours of fruitless searching, he gave up and settled for hand-cutting glass shapes and tying them to the tree branches. Some were simple round-shaped, others more complex, like a snowflake and even a few reindeer.

Chiron and Panatia were having an absolute riot baking cookies. And of course had an equally fun time completely destroying the kitchen. Despite the cookies coming out of the oven misshapen and lumpy, they were still delicious. And of course Elphaba was nearby to make sure they didn't hurt themselves. She was also busy wrapping presents. She had gone out and bought a few things for Dorothy and everyone else. There were the usual Christmas gifts Zeke had described to her; hideous sweaters no one would be caught dead with, fruitcake, candies, and she had even sewn a stocking for Dorothy. And, she had made a very special present for Dorothy, all with Zeke's help and quite a bit of magic. She had no doubt Dorothy would love it.

After three days of endless work, everything was ready, well, as ready as can be. The tree was fully decorated and covered with glass ornaments, presents were stuffed under the tree, tables were filled with cookies and candy, and a large feast was all prepared for Dorothy.

Fiyero smiled proudly up at their work. "Let's go get her!"

* * *

Dorothy sighed to herself, glancing out her window with a familiar sense of longing and nostalgia. "Merry Christmas, Dorothy," she said to herself. Getting up, she started brushing her hair, all the while humming Christmas songs underher breath.

"Dorothy?" Fiyero called.

She turned around. "Yes, what is it?"

He entered, grinning broadly. "I have something for you."

For a split second she thought he might give her a present and wish her a merry Christmas, but that hope was instantly crushed. There was no such thing as Christmas in Oz. "What is it?"

"Come, and close your eyes. It's a surprise!" Fiyero said. Dorothy smiled toherself and took Fiyero's hand, letting him guide her through the Palace. She then felt Fiyero tie a blindfold over her eyes.

"Can't have you peeking, can we?" he chuckled. "We're almost there . . . just a little further . . . and here we go!"

Fiyero stopped Dorothy in her tracks and slowly removed the blindfold. Dorothy kept her eyes closed, her heart racing with anticipation.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" she asked.

"Ok . . . _now_!"

Dorothy's eyes opened, and immediately her jaw dropped wide open at the sight. A magnificent Christmas tree, decorated with tiny glass shapes, stood in the middle of the great hall, with presents wrapped in colorful paper covering the floor. A table was set off to the side, which was piled high with sugar cookies, chocolate chip, oatmeal, and several others. Her friends stood in front of her, all of them smiling brightly.

"Merry Christmas, Dorothy!" they all said together.

It was too much. She fell to her knees, eyes tearing up with happiness. "You did this all . . . for me?"

"We saw how unhappy you were around this time of the year, and we know how much you still miss your home world," Boq explained. "So we talked to your friends, and we decided to celebrate Christmas with you!"

Dorothy smiled, unable to fight back her tears of joy. "This is too much. I can't believe you did this! It's so _perfect_!"

"Come on, you gotta open up your presents!" Glinda said, helping her to her feet and sitting her down in a chair. Chiron ran up to Dorothy and gave her a large light-weight box. Full of child-like ecstacy, she ripped open the present and saw the most hideous sweater she had ever seen in her entire life.

"Aw, thank you so much, Chiron!" Dorothy said with genuine sincerity, and gave the small boy a kiss. She didn't care how ugly it was, it was her first Christmas gift in six years!

The presents kept coming, from the traditional gifts of a very hard fruitcake and picture frames, to some other more thoughtful presents, like the spell books Dorothy had been eyeing but never had the time to buy. Her friends had even bought presents for each other, and Chiron was busy opening up a brand new set of toys, with Panatia already playing with the lovely doll Elphaba had bought her.

"I feel so terrible," Dorothy said. "If I had known you were going to do this, I would have bought presents for you!"

"Don't think twice about it," Fiyero assured. "It's our pleasure!"

"Oh, there's one more thing I have for you," Elphaba said. She pulled out a small square package wrapped in silver paper, and carefully handed it to Dorothy. Taking as much care as Elphaba had, Dorothy took the gift and slowly unwrapped it. Inside was a beautiful crystal ball sitting upon an oak stand, carefully carved with a detailed forest-like scenery.

"It's beautiful, thank you, Elphaba," Dorothy said sincerely.

"But there's more," Elphaba said. She tapped the crystal ball, and immediately a smokey white cloud filled the orb. Colors began to blend into the white smoke, mostly golds and a soft, pale pink. The colors began to sharpen to form a picture. And not just any picture.

It was Hunk. Staring straight back at her, with a wide coy grin and a playful twinkle in his eye. And the picture began to move.

"Ok, folks it's Christmas Day and my very first Christmas with Dorothy in our brand new apartment," Hunk was saying. Dorothy's mouth dropped. It was a video! Hunk made a video of their very first Christmas together, which was only a month or so after Uncle Henry and Aunt Em died.

"I thought I lost this video forever," Dorothy said quietly.

"Your friend Zeke found it after you left your home world, and I was able to magically transfer the contents of the video into the crystal ball," Elphaba said. "Do you like it?"

"I _love_ it," Dorothy said in a whisper.

"So it is six a.m. and time to wake up Dorothy to open presents!" Hunk continued. The picture jarred around a bit as he walked down a short hallway and up to a plain white door. Pushing it open, Hunk stepped inside the room, and the picture fell upon a sleeping Dorothy several years younger than the one watching the video, laying peacefully in bed. Hunk crept up to the side of the bed so he was staring straight down at her.

"He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness's sake!" Hunk sang softly, and Dorothy's eyes fluttered open. She gave him a small smile and stretched.

"What time is it?" she yawned. "And get that thing out of my face." Her hand reached up and pushed the camera away.

"Aww, it's Christmas time! And it's not just any Christmas! It's our very first Christmas together!" Hunk said. Dorothy slumped out of bed and tried to pry the camera out of Hunk's hands once again. "Hey, hey, hey! This is a special moment for us! I though we should cherish it!"

"Ugh, go away and give me another hour of sleep," Dorothy mumbled.

"But I really can't wait! So let's get going!" Hunk then put down the camera and wrapped his arms around Dorotrhy, sweeping her off her feet. She let out a giggle and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Could you grab the camera, darling?"

The Dorothy in the orb picked up the video and held it up so both of their faces were staring into the camera. "Ok, so now my prince charming has swept me off my feet to take me God knows where," Dorothy giggled.

"We're going into the family room, smart one," Hunk laughed, and kissed Dorothy's cheek.

"So to the family room we go!" The camera shuddered quite a bit as they walked through their apartment and finally went into the family room, where a tiny little evergreen was waiting for them, with large presents surrounded them. Hunk took the camera and set it up on a stand where it could capture the two of them opening up their presents. Dorothy sat down in Hunk's lap and he handed her a large present.

"Ladies first!" he said, and Dorothy ripped the present open. Inside was a blue and black skirt with a matching blouse.

Aw, it's so pretty!" Dorothy said. "Thank you!"

The older Dorothy who was watching her past self unwrap her presets felt a single tear roll down her cheek. All of the memories came flooding back to her as she continued to watch herself and her lover unwrap gifts. More clothes, some gag gifts, a new set of knives they needed for the kitchen, a brand new Stephen King book Dorothy had been dying to get . . . it was wonderful to see Hunk's face once again after so long.

It came down to the last gift, which Hunk gave to Dorothy. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. Dorothy carefully opened it to reveal a small silver oval-shaped locket. Dorothy held it up and opened it, and gasped.

"Oh, Hunk, it's beautiful!" Dorothy said. "It's the whole gang! You, Em, Henry, even Zeke and Hickory!"

"I thought it would be nice to remember that you're family is always with you," Hunk said gently, and kissed her forehead. Dorothy hugged him tightly, with a huge smile on her face.

"Thank you so much."

"So, was this the best Christmas ever?" Hunk teased.

Dorothy kissed him. "Of course it was."

They both turned to the video camera, and smiled as they wrapped their arms around each other. "Merry Christmas, everyone!"

The image in the crystal ball faded away, leaving the present Dorothy teary-eyed and deeply touched. "I remember it like it was yesterday," she said slowly. "It was such a wonderful Christmas. It was just the two of us. And that's all we really needed." She looked up from her crystal ball and grinned. "Thank you all so very much."

"Hey, it was no problem!" Fiyero said.

"No, I don't think you understand how much this means to me," Dorothy said. "Christmas is about spending time with your family and friends and being thankful for what you have. And I am so very thankful to have the greatest friends anyone could ask for." She stood up and gripped Fiyero tightly, and turned to each of her friends and embraced them all in turn. Chiron then came up to her, holding a sprig of mistletoe.

"Aunt Dory, what do you do with this?" he asked. Dorothy laughed.

"Well, if you stand under a mistletoe, you have to kiss someone!" Dorothy said. She then lowered herself to her knee and gave Chiron a kiss. Chiron made a disgusted face and ran off, causing Dorothy to laugh even louder.

Glinda, Elphaba, Boq, and Fiyero all approached her. "If you want, we can do it again next year," Elphaba offered.

Dorothy shook her head. "It's ok, really. You have all done more than enough for me. Thank you all so very much! I can't possibly tell you how grateful I am for all you've done!"

"That's the great thing; you don't need to tell us. We know," Boq said. And they all joined in and embraced one another.

* * *

Back in Dorothy's room hours later, she ran her hands over the crystal ball, playing back the memories of a Christmas so long ago. They had been so happy together. Sure, their living conditions at the time weren't ideal, but at the very least she was with the one man she loved. And that's all she needed.

Even thought Hunk was dead and gone, she could still feel his presence when it was very quiet and when she was completely alone. And, as she played the video captured within the crystal ball, she could feel his strong arms wrap around her soulders, his warm breath on her neck, and his gentle kisses grazing her cheek.

_Merry Christmas,_ she could hear him whisper.

"Merry Christmas, Hunk," Dorothy said.


End file.
